Pankaj Srivastava and Nataraj Kavuri have been charged by the securities and exchange commission's (SEC) enforcement division for running a high-yield investment scheme and offering guaranteed daily profits, as they anonymously solicited investments for their investment management company called Profits Paradise, using social media pitches.
They invited investors to deposit funds that would be pooled with funds from other investors and traded on foreign exchanges, as well as in stocks and commodities.
The SEC alleges the guaranteed returns were false and the investments bore the hallmark of a fraudulent high-yield investment programme. Srivastava and Kavuri also attempted to conceal their identities by supplying a fictitious name and contact info when registering their company's website.
The SEC's enforcement division says the duo violated the provisions of the federal securities act and will litigate the matter before an administrative law judge. The SEC appreciated the assistance of the securities and exchange board of India in investigating the matter.